Hot Docs Wraps with Awards
by Staff
(May 7, 2019 – Toronto, ON) The 26th annual Hot Docs festival has wrapped for another year and once again saw growth in the number of people attending the 11-day event. Total audience this year is about 228,000 people, up marginally from the 223,000 attendees in 2018. Up substantially from the 215,000 reported in 2017.
Matt Gallagher’s Prey won the $50,000 Rogers Audience Award for best Canadian documentary. It also took a $5,000 special jury prize for its look at a survivor of clergy sexual abuse who takes on the Catholic church in an Ontario court.
Claudia Sparrow’s Maxima about an Indigenous Peruvian farmer in a land dispute with a mining operation, landed the Hot Docs Audience Award for a feature film. It launched in Toronto with a sold-out World Premiere. The film tells the story of Máxima Acuña, a generational farmer in Peru who dares to challenge the corporate violence of billion-dollar American mining giant Newmont Mining when they lay claim to her land.
“The Hot Docs audience award means the world to us, it’s the greatest validation that Máxima is not alone and that people care about her cause and that they are ready to stand by her side,” said director Claudia Sparrow. “Máxima’s fight is far from over, but this recognition will help us push the film forward and hopefully bring more awareness to Máxima’s story. We couldn’t be more grateful for all the love and support we have received at Hot Docs.”
As we previously reported, Tasha Hubbard’s nipawistamasowin: We Will Stand Up, won the best Canadian feature documentary award for its look at the killing of Colten Boushie, a young Indigenous man in Saskatchewan.
